Don Lemon: Why Don't I Just Cut to the Chase and Tell You to Get The F*ck Outta Here With That Bullisht!!!!

If you haven't heard yet, Don Lemon, a news anchor for CNN decided to "go in" (depending on how you see it) on the problem with Black America. He said the usual stuff regarding sagging jeans, education and crime. He also said that Bill O'Reilly doesn't go far enough when he's talking about the so called crisis in the African American community. Needless to say it caused a lot of backlash and responses, one of which was a letter from Russell Simmons. He had to address Russell Simmons on the whole thing. He says to attack the problem and not the messenger, and then went in on sagging jeans, and how "saggin" spelled backwards spells n!ggas backwards (which has nothing at all to do with anything). He redeemed himself by thanking Russell Simmons for his letter. He also cut to the president speaking on the issue. Sure this video looks like a nice neat package of it's not us it's you and your fault why things are the way they are', but here's what I don't get.

Why doesn't Don Lemon attack those who control the images of black people being beamed into millions of homes around the world, those who profit from exploiting those images and those who reward people for living up to the stereotype starting with corporate America? Why doesn't he really talk about the real issue pertaining to Black on Black crime (which I mentioned earlier in this blog)? Why doesn't he talk about how many Whites are hooked on meth, the destruction of families the drug has caused and how it not only destroys the user's health but it harms children and anyone who resides in the house where the meth was smoked even if the drug was used several years ago by completely different tenants? Why not discuss the pharm parties and excessive use of various other drugs legal or otherwise? Why not address the tendency to over medicate children in order to substitute for decent parenting? Why doesn't he address the fact that White kids are running around with giant holes in their ears, many big colorful tattoos, and saggin pants as well? The holes can take a very long time to heal and can greatly jeopardize a person's ability to find gainful employment (unless they are a tattoo artist or they pierce people for a living);in some cases a surgical procedure may be needed to stitch up larger holes. The kid with the sagging jeans can at least take his off or put on a belt in order to fix his image. I don't think there's any chance in saving this guy though.

Just when I couldn't get any more pissed at Don Lemon for not really talking about the so called "Negro problem" , Michael Eric Dyson gets him, and humanity is restored.


But what if all Blacks really did what Don Lemon was talking about? What if we did exactly what the hippies did after the summer of love was over (don't front, all they did was cut their hair, take showers and go get jobs). Let's imagine that everybody went to college, got a good ass job, started a business, etc and started making serious money. What if all of the absentee fathers magically appeared to raise their families, and if applicable, any and all prison records were whisked away only to resemble that of the so called squeaky clean American citizen? Would we all turn out like this guy? For some reason, I beg to differ. Just ask Oprah and Michael Eric Dyson.


I'd like to see Don Lemon try to catch a cab in New York while wearing his suit. As clean as he is, I don't think the cabbies will be itching to have him as a customer.

A Swiss Store Clerk Denied Oprah the Opportunity to Look at a Purse- Said She "Couldn't Afford It"-

So Oprah was doing some shopping in Zurich Switzerland at a very high end store by the name of Trois Pomme when she saw a purse that caught her eye. She asked the clerk to let her see the purse, and according to the article, she was denied. The clerk refused to show it to her , She said: 'No, no, no, you don't want to see that one. You want to see this one. Because that one will cost too much; you will not be able to afford that,'" but Oprah insisted that she wanted to see the original one. Apparently, this exchange happened two more times before Oprah left the store empty handed. Oprah said “I could have had the big blow-up thing and thrown down the black card and all that stuff, but why do that?”   Later, the story was tracked by the BBC, and that's when it got interesting. The clerk said that Oprah was allowed to see the original bag, and that the sales person wanted to give her the bag, but then she didn't want to see it. The owner of the boutique said that there was a misunderstanding and that the clerk was Italian, so her English may not be so good.  That being said <<Get the fuck outta here. The clerk understood that Oprah wanted to see the original bag on display well enough to not get it for her. She understood enough to tell Oprah that she couldn't afford the original bag she was interested in, and the clerk knew enough to find a lower priced bag for Oprah to see. Now as soon as they found out how much Oprah is worth, they wanna back peddle and make excuses for their prejudices.  Finally, the ordeal trickled up to a spokesperson for the tourist office and now they want to invite her to come back so they can show her a good time.  Are they serious?!  Really, it translates to, "Waaaiiiiit! Come back! We really want your money in our city! Pleeeeeease, let us help you spend it! We'll be nice to you (read as 'your money') we promise!" << That line from Kanye West's New Slaves comes to mind, '"That's that broke n!gga racism, that's that 'don't touch anything in the store'. There's that rich n!gga racism, 'come in, please buy more' ".

 Who are they kidding? Do they think she is stupid? Do they think we are stupid? Honestly, I've gotta give it up to Oprah for remaining classy about what happened, but here's what bothers me.  It seems no matter how much money a Black person makes, they will always get treated crazy.  It's funny how people in The States love to prattle on and preach about how all Black people need to do is pull their pants up, get an education and a good job and everything will fall into place.  This woman made 77 million last year alone and still can't go shopping overseas based solely on her skin color. This is why I feel that Black people in the US shouldn't buy from the people who treat us like that regardless if it's a salesperson, the owner,or fashion designer themselves (remember Tommy Hillfiger?).  I can't tell her or any other rich Black person where or how to spend their money, but If I were in that situation, I would have walked out and then bought a factory so I could make my own high end purses.  I'm just saying.

Justin Bieber Thinks He's Black- According to Sharon Osborne

I normally don't pay attention to celebrity gossip, but I kept seeing this in my feed. For those who may not be in the know, apparently Justin Bieber  has lost his mind. He has been seen spitting on his fans from a balcony, he was filmed while urinating in a mop bucket at a nightclub, and who knows what other foolishness he decided he wanted to do.  Originally, I shrugged it off because I never followed Justin Bieber nor do I know any of his songs. My only exposure of his music was a youtube video I saw long ago when he first started to get big. The boy can sing, so I'll give him that, but when Sharon Osborne (the wife of Ozzy Osbourne) decided to say that the source of Justin's behavior is because he thinks he's Black, the only thing I could say was, Get The Fuck Outta Here With That.  Justin's behavior is not the same as a person who thinks he's Black. This boy's behavior reminds me of  what one of those uncontrollable little suburban supermarket spawns act like when they become teenagers. I'd hate to say it, but his behavior matches that of his peers. Maybe he's acting out due to the combination of money and loneliness after all, his 'fiends' were filming and laughing while he added a little something extra to the mop bucket. He was also surrounded by friends when he was seen spitting on his fans. Maybe he's trying to convince his friends that he is "cool"?  Maybe those people really aren't his friends? What do his parents think of the stuff they hear about their son? Maybe they figure Justin is his own man now and they let him do what he wants. I have no idea about what's going on in that boy's head for real. But I will say this : Sharon Osbourne has a lot of nerve saying something like that. After all, she did marry a guy who bit the head off of a live bat, and a dove while on stage, he was known for very heavy drug and alcohol abuse for forty years, he got into fights, and he generally lived the whole sex, drugs rock and roll lifestyle. I guess with her logic, she must have thought she married the Blackest White person alive or something. Either that, or she's just running her mouth so her name could get out in the public again. Maybe that's one of the reasons why her other child still refuses to be associated with them even after the reality show.

Anyway, I'm saying too much.

Random Thought #1

We interrupt all of this seriousness to bring you a random thought. I don't know if there's going to be any more random thoughts posted in the future. Anyway, this is strictly for anybody else who could relate.

I still want to know, why come (I had to say it like that)  my mom had to press hair all the way down close between my shoulder blades. I didn't even know I had important hair right there.

Eff poppin mollys. I'm getting my hair pressed, I'm sweatin'!

That is all.

Many Americans Have No Friends Outside of their Race. Why is that?

Apparently a poll  said that forty percent of Whites and twenty five percent of non whites have no close friends outside of their race.  I really don't know what to think about this. Is this an attempt to race bait, or pit the non Whites against the Whites? I don't know.  However, I can tell you that I got to experience both worlds. I used to live on the south side of Saint Louis (Mc Ree and Tower Grove to be exact, for those who want to question the credentials, lol) when I was a kid, the neighborhood and schools I went to were very diverse. I had friends and neighbors of many different races and cultures.  Later I moved more west, I lived in an all black neighborhood and went to two all  black schools. In high school,  I was a part of the deseg program, and went to school with everybody again. Now I live out of state, and have friends of different races.  Here's the thing that wasn't discussed in the article:

Some people choose who they want to be associated with. Some are willing to 'self segregate'. I guess it depends on the person and their experiences. When I was in high school, this was seen in the Commons (cafeteria) area. All of the Black people were on one side and all of the White people had the areas they chose. There were various cliques as well, so all of the "outsiders" just kind of sat around the majority of kids like hyenas waiting for the pack of lions to leave so they can have the remains of the carcass.  Unfortunately, I fit in none of the cliques, but I did notice what was going on. I was even asked, "Why all of the Black people sit together? I didn't have an answer since I told the person that I didn't fit anywhere, nor did I feel welcome in any area, so I was one of the hyenas so to speak. In my senior year, I sat in the senior area with all of the Blacks in my graduating class. I had a few non black friends, but we weren't really close. It wasn't because they were non Black, it was because I was a very shy teenager with social anxiety issues which made it very very hard to fully open up to people in general.

However I also think in some instances, people don't have many friends of different races because there may be some regional differences, or how they were raised. For example, there are some areas where very few non White people exist. Therefore, it decreases the likely hood of a White person becoming friends with a non white person. The same goes with small towns with stationary populations. If everyone in a small town grew up together, and the town wasn't very diverse, chances are high that the newcomer will not be welcomed.  If the outsider is lucky, they may make school friends with some or one of the local kids assuming the parents allow it.  If a person was raised to not mingle with people who don't look like them, then it is what is regardless of what race they belonged to.

This sort of thing reminds me of my experiences in Sociology class when I was in college, which can be found in the Black on Black Crime vs Crime blog I wrote in July. That being said, they need to Get the Fuck outta here with that mess, and here's why:

Why did they have to create this poll? What was the purpose of it?  Why did they even need to ask? Was it really that hard to figure out? I think the average Joe, Jane, Iesha, Darius, Carlos, Maria, etc would have been able to figure out why many Americans don't have close friends outside of their race. It's common sense really. Maybe I think too much and it really isn't common sense. Maybe we need a team of sociology professors to create a poll so they can analyze this because they are the only ones who can tell us what we need to know regarding this topic, I mean, they are the experts after all,right?  Maybe we are incapable of putting on our thinking caps to the point where we are unable to ask ourselves "Why" and we don't have enough brain cells to rub together in order to independently come to a conclusion when it comes to anything in particular.  I don't know. I mean, somebody had to gather professors together in order to find this out, and I figured it out just like that?

Really tho?! Really?

Rachet Behavior Assigned Solely to Black People?! << I Know They Didn't!

First, lets take a look at some of the various definitions of the word, "ratchet".  I was under the impression that it came from a rapper by the name of Hurricaine Chris back in 2009, but I found no actual definitions that traced it back to him even though that's where I thought I first heard the term.  However, I did find two interesting  definitions, listed on a blog which explored where the writer thought it came from. The blogger mentions that it may be possible that the first use of the word came from a character in the book "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest". The character's name was "Nurse Ratchet". For those who hadn't read the book or need their memory refreshed, Nurse Ratchet was described as not a very nice woman. She was cold, calculating, manipulative, and controlling especially when things didn't go her way.  Some may go out of their way to describe her as a "bitch" but I'll get to that term a bit later.

The second idea the blogger had was that it came from the word "wretched", which can be described as deplorably bad , miserable or distressing.  It seems that the author was on to something here.

I looked a bit further and I couldn't help but start to see a pattern. Urban Dictionary.Com, Ny Mag.com, YahooAnswers, all imply that ratchet is a term meant to be applied to "ghetto",or "urban" people,(read Black people) in particular.  When I saw that, I said, "Get the fuck outta here!". One must not simply deem a whole section of people as "ratchet" just because the term was heard in a couple of songs by a particular group of people within said group who coined the term to describe generally tacky behavior. If all Black people are ratchet based on that, what does that make everyone else?  The real difference is what each sub culture calls this type of behavior, and how it is presented. For example, many movies have been centered around that behavior. Some television shows often have mean girls (or women in this case) nicely tucked into the story to keep things going.  In these cases, we are likely to watch these kinds of shows and are quick to give the character with ratchet behavior the title of "bitch" if she's a woman, or "mean girl" if she's not classified as a woman yet. Do we go around and label all women in the subculture represented here as ratchet ass females, or ratchet hoes? No, they get to be called mean girls, or bitches. And what about the guys? If they are ratchet, we call them douchebags, assholes,dicks (see 2nd definition) or alpha males. Don't front like this behavior is not celebrated in America by one sub culture of people verses the majority.  Not taking the time to look at both sides of the coin in attempts to demonize an entire culture is ratchet in itself.  America as a whole LOVES that crap. Why do some people reward this behavior? Why does the ratchet person get rooted for in the movies by some people? Why are people getting rewarded with the chance to be on a reality tv show with the promise of fame and money as long as they act as sorry as possible?  Why do we have ratchet cartoons? I can't act like I'm not guilty of enjoying a bit of ratchetness, in fact, that cartoon I listed is something I watch in small doses when I'm in the mood. Others watch Family Guy, South Park (which has some good social commentary sometimes), and many more. I just find it very interesting when Black people came up with the term, all of a sudden, all Black people get assigned to being ratchet.  Get the fuck outta here with that.

Not only can ratchet behavior be celebrated on TV, but it is also lauded as a sign of leadership in some circles (hence the alpha male title).  I already mentioned the Washington Post article  about what happens when mean girls grow up. The article also points out ratchetness in the work place and how the behavior may not necessarily be a bad thing. Let's be honest, we have all had a boss or co workers (male or female) who acted crazy from time to time. That behavior may include passive aggressiveness, snarkiness disguised as sarcasm,general bitchiness, and quite possibly verbal abuse. Last time I checked, that kind of behavior makes for a caustic workplace environment, and yet, some people can still get ahead using those tactics and are seen as straight forward, assertive and bold.

Maybe it really isn't like that for some people. Maybe we can blame their ratchet behavior on genes rather than poor parenting. Maybe they had O.D.D as kids and didn't grow out of it. Maybe we can come up with all kinds of euphemisms to describe otherwise tasteless behavior while ignoring the fact that it exists in this country. This way, we can sit on our high horses and call every Black person ratchet all day and every day while turning a blind eye to The Dunkin' Doughnuts incident sort of thing, this lady going batshit crazy over Obama's re election, the Huntington Beach Riots, the entire cast of Jersey Shore, Lindsy Lohan, Cory Monteith's death, and Heath Ledger's death. But waaaait. Celebrities don't coooouuunnnt. They're entertaaaaainers, and some of them are troooooubled. It's really haaaard to be a star. They have so much pressure put on them and some handle it better than others.  <<Get the fuck outta here and tell that to Whitney Houston especially after reading all of the comments on any article pertaining to her eventual death after the discovery of her drug use that was strewn all across the internet. Let Amy Winehouse know about it also. I guess she was different since people judged her anyway because she was White and from the UK. I just never heard anybody refer to her as ratchet.

That is all.

Dying to Be Beautiful << -_-

I thought the plastic surgery trend would have died out by now. I thought people would have looked at all of these celebrities, and said Daaaaaammmmnnn! I don't want to turn out like that. Nope, people kept doing what they were going to do regardless. The next trend that popped up was when Nikki Minaj decided she wanted a new ass, and wow, she got one. Unfortunately women are willing to go to the black market to do so, which results in death in some cases.  In this instance a woman went to get her butt injected with silicone. Not the same silicone that had been used in the past with breast implants mind you, but the type of silicone you buy in a tube from the hardware store.

Let me get this straight. She let some unknown woman with no medical background what so ever inject some hardware store material used to seal a bathtub to a cheap vinyl shower wall, and she failed to see that as dangerous? O_o  Is she even serious?!    That being said, people in general are hell bent on making themselves more attractive to the opposite sex.  We take supplements, herbs, minerals and formulas that promise rock hard abs, dramatic weight loss, bigger um...assets, whiter teeth and so on and so fourth. We undergo cosmetic surgeries, and inject botox to prevent aging, or to have fuller features. Why is this even okay? Has there ever been a time when it was okay to not enhance yourself by taking drastic measures?  Then again, what is considered drastic? Are there any people out there that may say getting braces to fix crooked teeth is drastic but wouldn't scoff at the idea of getting breast augmentation, or liposuction?  In all honesty, I feel that if a person has to poison themselves by injection via medical professional or otherwise strictly for vanity purposes, something is very wrong here.  Are we really that vain? Has there ever been a time where a person's personality mattered before anything else?

Before you start wondering. I am not a model by any means.  Never in my natural Black life have I been described as a 'dime'. Hell, I don't think anybody has described me as a dub when it comes to my appearance. Now that I look back I think the last time I was called cute was when I had all my baby teeth at age 5.  When I was a teenager, I had some serious self esteem issues to the point where I would sit in the bathroom mirror and imagine myself with smaller lips and a skinnier nose due to all the hate I received by my peers and  even adults.  When no one was looking, I even thought of killing myself.  But those days are long gone. I'm happy with my Black nose and my thick kissable lips. I don't wear makeup, and I took the time to learn to take care of my skin so I wouldn't have to. Unfortunately, nobody told me that when I hit the 30s, Puberty 2.0 was going to set in, and  I was going to get some crazy acne that doesn't take the same treatment that it did when I was a teenager, and that the blemishes left behind are going to be something awful, but anyway, this article is not about my ug'lass so I'll stop here.

Why are people constantly being bombarded with all of this stuff that will improve (insert whatever thing we should be worrying about here)? Why are people getting their butt holes bleached, I mean, I never see my butt hole, but shouldn't keeping it clean be enough? Then again, I don't think I want to know why somebody would want it bleached in the first place. That right there is a sign that vanity is king and it doesn't matter how ratchet a person is, as long as they look good while being ratchet, all is well. That being said << Get the Fuck Outta Here with that bullshit. How is a so called fine ass person going to get through life with an attitude like hot dookie juice? I suspect that eventually people would get tired of them and their shit, and not deal with them anymore. Do they think they are going to continue to look like that for the rest of their lives or something? Do they think the more surgery and stuff they get done, the better they will age? What kind of broke logic is that?  The same goes with naturally beautiful people with bad attitudes. Maybe people are afraid of getting old. Why is that? Maybe I'm okay with it because I'm already kinda funny looking, so getting old must not be so bad. I mean I've already accumulated years of not caring about what people think about my looks, so I must be a veteran to them. They must see me and be like, "Wow, is she serious?! How does she even live like that?" I don't know what they think, I only know my life experience. I guess I'm going to keep doing what I do. People always say that "beauty is only skin deep, but ugly is to the bone". Go ahead and keep saying that. But I don't think anybody is going to catch me looking like this, this, this or this at any stage in my life because I'm afraid to get old. I'm just saying,  I've seen really old wedding pictures of beautiful people when they were full of vitality and youth, but you'd never know it when looking at them at their current state.

Anyway, plastic surgery... bad. Loving the skin you're in...good.  RIP Michael Jackson.